Is NGO aid not so different after all? Comparing the allocation of Swiss aid by private and official donors

Nunnenkamp, Peter; Weingarth, Janina; Weisser, Johannes

doi:10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2009.01.001

Cited by 56 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Also at the one percent level of significance, the positive coefficient on population signals that larger countries receive more NGO aid. Corruption and Fragile are not significant at conventional levels as in Nunnenkamp et al (2009), indicating that Swiss NGOs do not grant more aid to countries with difficult environments -even though the World Bank (1998) suggests that NGOs may have a comparative advantage to work there. Finally, NGOs grant more aid to recipient countries hit by (more serious) disasters, at the one percent level of significance.…”

Section: Overall Ngo Samplementioning

confidence: 98%

Acting Autonomously or Mimicking the State and Peers? A Panel Tobit Analysis of Financial Dependence and Aid Allocation by Swiss NGOs

Dreher

Nunnenkamp

Oehler³

et al. 2009

SSRN Journal

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Abstract: NGO aid is still widely believed to be superior to official aid (ODA). However, the incentives of NGOs to excel and target aid to the poor and deserving are increasingly disputed. We contribute to the emerging literature on the allocation of NGO aid by performing panel Tobit estimations for Swiss NGOs. The analysis offers new insights in two major regards: First, we cover the allocation of both self-financed and officially cofinanced aid for a large panel of NGOs and recipient countries. Second, by classifying each NGO according to its financing structure, we address the unresolved question of whether financial dependence on the government impairs the targeting of NGO aid. It turns out that NGOs mimic the state as well as NGO peers. Officially refinanced NGOs are more inclined to imitate the allocation of ODA. However, the degree of financial dependence does not affect the poverty orientation of NGO aid and the incentives of NGOs to engage in easier environments. The allocation of self-financed aid differs in several respects from the allocation of officially cofinanced aid, including the role of financial dependence for imitating the state and herding among NGOs. Terms of use: Documents in

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Section: Overall Ngo Samplementioning

confidence: 98%

Acting Autonomously or Mimicking the State and Peers? A Panel Tobit Analysis of Financial Dependence and Aid Allocation by Swiss NGOs

Dreher

Nunnenkamp

Oehler³

et al. 2009

SSRN Journal

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“…Empirical evidence is scarce and inconclusive. American and Norwegian NGOs appear to have allocated aid in line with perceived comparative advantages, whereas German and Swiss NGOs did not (Koch et al, 2007; Nunnenkamp et al, 2009). This leads to our third hypothesis:…”

Section: Previous Findings and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aid Delivery through Non-governmental Organisations: Does the Aid Channel Matter for the Targeting of Swedish Aid?

2010

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This paper analyses whether aid channelled through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is less affected by selfish donor motivations and better targeted to needy recipient countries than aid distributed by state agencies. We employ Tobit (and Probit) models and make use of an exceptionally detailed database that allows an assessment of the allocation of Swedish aid channelled through NGOs in comparison to the allocation of Swedish official aid. Our analysis provides mixed results. On the one hand, NGOs appear to be altruistic as far as available indicators on political and commercial motivations of aid can tell. On the other hand, needs-based targeting of aid by NGOs turns out to be surprisingly weak. GDP per capita of recipient countries shapes the allocation of official aid, but not that of aid channelled through NGOs. The headcount of absolute poverty has a significantly positive effect on aid allocation, but its impact is not particularly strong when NGOs are involved. Overall, the Swedish case supports the sceptical view that NGOs are not necessarily superior donors compared to state aid agencies. Copyright 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Journal compilation 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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“…Koch, Dreher, Nunnenkamp & Thiele (2009) find that Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) a) allocate more foreign aid to countries in need 1 , b) do not prefer to work in difficult environments, c) act less autonomously than expected, d) choose locations in line with other NGOs and e) allocate more foreign aid to similiar countries. Furthermore, Dreher, Mölders & Nunnenkamp (2007) and Nunnenkamp, Weingarth & Weisser (2009) investigate the determinants of aid allocation by Swedish and Swiss NGOs, respectively and Dollar & Levin (2006) find that multilateral donors tend to act more in accordance with the motive of merit than bilateral donors. In contrast, Nunnenkamp & Öhler (2009) not only distinguish between private and official aid but also disaggregate aid figures for various official German aid channels in order to show that aid through different channels is not motivated for the same reasons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the channel and type of aid: The case of international disaster assistance

Raschky

Schwindt

2012

European Journal of Political Economy

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Is NGO aid not so different after all? Comparing the allocation of Swiss aid by private and official donors

Cited by 56 publications

References 34 publications

Acting Autonomously or Mimicking the State and Peers? A Panel Tobit Analysis of Financial Dependence and Aid Allocation by Swiss NGOs

Acting Autonomously or Mimicking the State and Peers? A Panel Tobit Analysis of Financial Dependence and Aid Allocation by Swiss NGOs

Aid Delivery through Non-governmental Organisations: Does the Aid Channel Matter for the Targeting of Swedish Aid?

On the channel and type of aid: The case of international disaster assistance

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